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In Latin America, where even today writing has remained a restricted form of expression, the task of generating consent and imposing the emergent nation-state as the exclusive form of the political, was largely conferred to the image. Furthermore, at the moment of its historical demise, the new, 'postmodern' forms of sovereignty appear to rely even more heavily on visual discourses of power. However, a critique of the iconography of the modern state-form has been missing. This volume is ... [an] attempt by cultural, historical, and visual scholars to address the political dimension of visual culture in Latin America, in a comparative perspective spanning various regions and historical stages. The case studies are divided into four sections, analysing the formation of a public sphere, the visual politics of avant-garde art, the impact of mass society on political iconography, and the consolidation and crisis of territory as a key icon of the state.--From publisher description

Focuses on the demand, supply, key features, and events that take place across the regions of Canada, the United States of America and Mexico. This handbook is a useful resource for researchers, students and practitioners interested in various aspects of tourism in North America

The report provides a preliminary assessment of DR-CAFTA, with particular attention to three key themes: (i) expected trade and non-trade benefits, (ii) actions that Central American countries need to pursue to capitalize optimally on the new opportunities, and (iii) identification of the population groups that may require assistance to adapt to a more competitive environment. The Introductory Chapter reviews the main findings of the report. Chapter II places DR-CAFTA in the historical context of the economic reforms that Central America has been undertaking since the late 1980s. Chapter III p

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Overview and Background -- Consolidated Supervision of Financial Groups in Central America -- Development of the Insurance Sector -- Payment and Securities Settlement Systems -- Migrant Remittances in Central America.

Why do very different countries often emulate the same policy model? Two years after Ronald Reagan's income-tax simplification of 1986, Brazil adopted a similar reform even though it threatened to exacerbate income disparity and jeopardize state revenues. And Chile's pension privatization of the early 1980s has spread throughout Latin America and beyond even though many poor countries that have privatized their social security systems, including Bolivia and El Salvador, lack some of the preconditions necessary to do so successfully. In a major step beyond conventional rational-choice accounts of policy decision-making, this book demonstrates that bounded rationality drives the spread of innovations across countries. When seeking solutions to domestic problems, decision-makers often consider foreign models, sometimes promoted by development institutions like the World Bank. But, as Kurt Weyland argues, policymakers apply inferential shortcuts at the risk of distortions and biases. Through an analysis of pension and health reform in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Peru, Weyland demonstrates that decision-makers are captivated by neat, bold, cognitively available models. And rather than thoroughly assessing the costs and benefits of external models, they draw excessively firm conclusions from limited data and overextrapolate from spurts of success or failure. Indications of initial success can thus trigger an upsurge of policy diffusion. --From publisher's description.

Comparisons of East Asian and Latin American development frequently attribute the success of the former and the failure of the latter to differences in policies and institutions. Political Conflict and Development in East Asia and Latin America takes issue with such a view by subjecting the conventional policy and institutional attributes to vigorous case-to-case comparison across the two regions. The analysis in this book rests upon a chain of reasoning which starts with policy, argues back to the institutions that shape policy, and then to the forces that fashion the institutions. This last link in the chain is conspicuously absent in the literature but is critical to our understanding. The book shows how the range of institutions associated with development in East Asia and Latin America are deeply rooted in particular economic political and social settings that govern how they work. The book directly challenges the dominant view that development can be reduced to a formula or a set ofinstitutions that can be copied by other countries to guarantee successful development. Its emphasis upon institutional fashioning will be a distinctive contribution to development studies.

"Examines the relationship between private education and public policy in Latin America by combining conceptual analysis with empirical research, and incorporating case studies from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela"--Provided by publisher

This book examines Latin America's history of engagement with cosmopolitanisms as a manner of asserting a genealogy that links cultural critique in Latin America and the United States. Cosmopolitanism is crucial to any discussion of Latin America, and Latin Americanism as a discipline. Reinaldo Arenas and Diamela Eltit become nodal points to discuss a wide range of issues that include the pedagogical dimensions of the DVD commentary track, the challenges of the Internet to canonization, and links between ethical practices of Benetton and the U.S. academy. These authors, whose rejection of the comfort of regimented constituencies results in their writing being perceived as raw, vindictive, and even alienating, are ripe for critique. What they say about their relation to place with regard to their products' national and international viability is central. The book performs what it theorizes. It travels between methodologies, hence bridging the divide between cosmopolitanism and that alleged common space of Latin American identity as per the colonial experience, illustrating cosmopolitanism as a mediating operation that is crucial to any discussion of Latin America, and of Latin Americanism as a discipline

"This book is an in-depth analysis of how cultural, religious and social institutions have shaped the economic destinies of North America and Latin America over the last five hundred years. The final chapters look at recent developments in individual Latin American countries and considers the possibilities for an economic turnaround"--Provided by publisher

Are U.S. policy planners adequately prepared to deal with a potential future burst of populist turbulence in Europe or South America? Steve C. Ropp looks at this understudied phenomenon and offers some suggestions to strategic planners for mitigating its effects on the global democratic core of representative democracies

Introduction: Black slaves, red paint / Matthew Restall -- Black soldiers, native soldiers : meanings of military service in the Spanish American colonies / Ben Vinson III and Matthew Restall -- Africans and Native Americans on the Spanish Florida frontier / Jane Landers -- Tapanhuns, Negros da Terra, and Curibocas : common cause and confrontation between Blacks and natives in colonial Brazil / Stuart B. Schwartz and Hal Langfur -- Conflict and cohabitation between Afro-Mexicans and Nahuas in central Mexico / Norma Angélica Castillo Palma and Susan Kellogg -- "Whites and mulattos, our enemies" : race relations and popular political culture in Nueva Granada / Renée Soulodre-La France -- Africans and natives in the mines of Spanish America / Kris Lane -- Wolves and sheep? : Black-Maya relations in colonial Guatemala and Yucatan / Christopher Lutz and Matthew Restall -- Black read as red : ethnic transgression and hybridity in northeastern South America and the Caribbean / Neil L. Whitehead -- Black-native relations and the historical record in colonial Mexico / Patrick J. Carroll

The work enslaves us -- SITRATERCO: women's power is union power -- Honduras: a free space -- Latin America: the big challenge -- The war at home -- Global allies -- A new kind of labor movement

This book is a collection of readings that explore environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean using natural science and social science methods. These papers demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary approaches to analyze and solve environmental problems. The essays are organized into five parts: conservation challenges; national policies, local communities, and rural development; market mechanisms for protecting public goods; public participation and environmental justice; and the effects of development policies on the environment.

Truth about privatization in Latin America Alberto Chong and Florencio López-de-Silanes -- Benefits and costs of privatization in Argentina Sebastián Galiani ... [et al.] -- Privatization and firm performance in Bolivia Katherina Capra ... [et al.] -- Costs and benefits of privatization Francisco Anuatti-Neto -- Effects of privatization on firms Ronald Fischer, Rodrigo Gutiérrez, and Pablo Serra -- Privatization in Colombia Carlos Pombo and Manuel Ramírez -- Privatization in Mexico Alberto Chong and Florencio López-de Silanes -- Peruvian privatization Máximo Torero

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Stylized Facts -- Trend and Cyclical Components of GDP Growth -- Growth Accounting -- Growth, Investment, and Saving -- Summary -- 2. Determinants of Growth -- Setup -- Growth Determinants -- Transitional convergence -- Cyclical reversion -- Structural policies and institutions -- Stabilization policies -- External conditions -- Sample and Descriptive Statistics -- Estimation Methodology -- Results -- Main results -- Comparison with results under other estimation methods and time horizons -- Growth Explanations -- Explaining changes in growth rates over time -- Explaining differences in growth rates across countries -- 3. Growth in the Future -- Future Growth under Realistic Expectations -- Projections for growth determinants -- Forecasts for the average country in Latin America and the Caribbean -- Country forecasts -- Future Growth under Sharp Reform -- 4. Conclusions -- APPENDIXES -- A. Solow Growth Accounting -- B. Definitions and Sources of Variables Used in Regression Analysis -- C. Sample of Countries -- D. Explaining Changes in Growth by Country -- Bibliography -- LIST OF BOXES -- 1. Literature Review on Economic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean -- LIST OF TABLES -- 1. Growth Rates of GDP Per Capita by Region, 1961-2000 -- 2. Growth Rates of GDP Per Capita by Country, 1961-2000 -- 3. Growth Rates of Trend GDP Per Capita by Region, 1961-2000 -- 4. Growth Rates of Trend GDP Per Capita by Country, 1961-2000 -- 5. Volatility of GDP Per Capita by Region, 1961-2000 -- 6. Volatility of GDP Per Capita by Country, 1961-2000 -- 7. Simple Growth Accounting, 1961-2000 -- 8. Growth Accounting Adjusted for Human Capital, 1961-2000 -- 9. Growth Accounting Adjusted for Human Capital and Input Utilization, 1971-2000 -- 10. Saving, Growth, and Investment: Bivariate Causality Analysis.